McLaren to confirm driver line-up imminently

McLaren are finally set to confirm their driver line-up for the 2014 Formula One World Championship season.

For an unknown reason, McLaren had delayed the announcement for their driver line-up for next season.

Whilst 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button was happy to confirm that his contract extension talks had been concluded some time ago, McLaren refused to officially confirm the news.

Instead they wanted to wait so that they could announce both drivers at the same time, however talks with Sergio Perez appeared to stall, while rumours of an unlikely return for Fernando Alonso to McLaren circulated around the media.

It is believed that McLaren had been disappointed with the form of Sergio Perez following his move from Sauber to McLaren to replace Lewis Hamilton. But the Alonso rumour appeared to be the only one that suggested that McLaren’s talks wouldn’t end with a Button-Perez partnership for next season.

With those talks now dying down, although not ruled out for 2015, McLaren now look set to make their announcement official.

‘When will we make our driver announcement? The answer is I suspect we’ll be making it quite shortly,’ McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh told Sky Sports.

Another deal, while not officially connected but certainly goes hand-in-hand with Sergio Perez remaining with the team is a new title sponsor agreement with Telmex communications group.

Vodafone have opted not to renew their deal with McLaren, while the Mexican company has closely supported Perez’s career in motorsport.

But that deal is unlikely to be announced until the current contract with Vodafone has completely expired.

‘It will be a separate one [announcement] and it will likely be beyond the end of the season because obviously we’re respectful of the partnerships we have at the moment.’‘ Whitmarsh concluded.